This year marked the 30th celebration of Meatout, an international day of awareness devoted to educating the public on all of the benefits of a vegan diet. Ever year, the campaign makes a splash, but Meatout 2014 in particular has been a landmark year. With proclamations from mayors across the United States (plus from the governor of Rhode Island), national and international media coverage, a network of passionate animal activists behind us, and a coalition of organizations and businesses with a common mission to spare as many animals as possible, Meatout undoubtedly changed the diets and minds of thousands.

Look who's talking!

The press we received this year was unbelieveable! FARM's Executive Director, Michael Webermann, was interviewed for Al Jazeera and HuffPost Live! Additionally, a Philadelphia newspaper held a contest to find the best vegan cheesesteak in the city and Terri Restaurant in NYC gave out a free lunch worth $10 to each person who came to the establishment and mentioned Meatout. This offer received press, was retweeted multiple times, and consequently thousands showed up to have a vegan lunch on March 20th.

The Facebook Meatout Global Event made it easier than ever for the public to learn about and take the Meatout pledge. The page also allowed our supporters to share the campaign with their friends and families. Twitter was ablaze with #meatout tagged tweets, with existing vegans tagging words of support and Meatout participants snapping photos of their meals. Finally, this year we also displayed billboards in Portland, OR and Chicago, IL. These billboards featured the reasons to choose a vegan diet: the environment, the animals, and personal health. Our efforts worked, as shown by comments like this one we received "Made my first ever bean burger! [Meatout has] given me the motivation to eat healthier and be aware of where my food comes from!"

Americans Embrace Meatout

With more than 130 events happening across the United States, the Meatout message was heard in local communities small and large. Our event coordinators worked diligently to prepare tasty vegan food samples to distribute and the public just couldn't say no!

On the College of Charleston campus in Charleston, SC, students tasted samples and pledged by putting their name in a piggy bank. In Washington D.C. FARM staff and volunteers handed out more than 1,500 samples of Gardein crispy tenders to people at the St. Patricks Day parade! Staff in Portland, OR served more than 700 samples of Go Max Go candy bars, Alternative Baking Company cookies, and Soyrizo to participants of the Shamrock Run. Similar events were organized in Tennessee, California, Hawaii, Maryland and more! In all, 45 states were represented this year during Meatout 2014!

Meatout Spreads Globally!

International activists and organizations are always on the front lines for Meatout. With more than 60 events happening in countries like Croatia, Spain, India, Brazil, Canada, and Israel, Meatout's message spread across the world.

In Croatia, activists conducted a cooking workshop with youth who made food, then served it at their Meatout event. In Spain, activists wore signs which tallied how many animals had been killed during the course of their demonstration.

By providing grants and partnering with Gardein, VegFund made sure our activists had the funds to set up events filled with enticing foods for the public. Additionally, Tofurky, Parma, Alternative Baking Company, Go Max Go, and others made their products available to organizers who wanted to use them for their Meatout event. Thank you for your support this year!

Thanks to All Of Our Supporters!

Dozens of groups and thousands of activists did everything they could to help get the Meatout message to the public. Meatout is about showing the public how a vegan diet can be delicious, healthy, and fun; we rely on all of our supporters to help make Meatout the success it is. Thank you!